(Reuters) – The FBI sees social media as a potential breeding ground for securities fraud, and has agents scouring Twitter and Facebook for tips, according to two top agents overseeing a long-running investigation into insider trading in the $2 trillion hedge fund industry.

April Brooks, a special agent in charge of the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and David Chaves, a supervisory agent, said it is hard to predict the next wave of securities fraud, but they add that it will have a lot to do with advances in technology and social media.

“I will tell you technology will play a huge part, social media, Twitter. Any kind of technology that is new and doesn’t exist today, if there is any way to exploit it, these individuals will exploit it,” Brooks told Reuters TV in an interview for the Reuters Investment Outlook 2013 Summit.

Brooks and Chaves oversee what the FBI calls “Operation Perfect Hedge,” which has led to more than 60 convictions of hedge fund traders, analysts and industry consultants.

Discussion

I’m going to resurrect an old topic here! Coming from two different government agencies that are typically male-oriented and traditionally run, I would say that anybody working in those environments needs to pay attention to their behavior. Behavior that is seen as outside of the standard is not going to get any of us to… Read more »

@Jarrod Breuer excellent point about considering rural areas. That is so true, and you might even end up getting relocation expenses paid. That can be much easier than trying to compete for the first time in a large or popular market where there are likely to be several current government employees looking to transfer.

A flexibile designed, developed for State of Virginia (anchored with County of Fairfax, VA, urban community of 1.2 Million) connecting urban & rural, to help build community vitality & social capital from a bridge of arts and science . Key focus is to contribute to community vitality building social capital while connecting family or friends__community… Read more »

In one month, it’ll be three years since I published this article. Let’s see how we’re doing: According to the CIA World Fact Book, the U.S. HAS DROPPED IN RANK FROM 17 to 169 IN INFANT MORTALITY in the world. One click below Poland and one click above Serbia. According to the CIA World Fact… Read more »

GovLoop is the "Knowledge Network for Government" - the premier social network connecting over 150,000 federal, state, and local government innovators.

A great resource to connect with peers, share best practices, and find career-building opportunities.